Baby swings are used extensively by infant caregivers to soothe and to comfort the children. An infant swing consists primarily of a seat that securely holds the infant in a position elevated off the floor and a frame apparatus that supports the seat and allows the seat to move in a reciprocal manner, typically in a forward and rearward direction though some infant seats provide a side to side swinging motion. Such swings provide a comfortable, safe and entertaining environment to the child.
When caring for an infant, it is extremely advantageous to be able to provide an environment that minimally disturbs the infant when they are resting or sleeping. The necessity to physically move an infant out of one seat and place them in another seat is usually agitating to the infant. Additionally, having the versatility to be able to provide a swinging motion to the specific seat an infant is occupying is also valuable. Therefore, having a swing that would allow either a carrier or a car seat to be directly attached to it would provide the caregiver with the option of being able to provide a swinging motion to the infant without moving the infant from one seat to the other. One such convertible swing system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,088, issued on Jan. 25, 2000, to William Stephens, et al, in which a seat member is detachably mounted on a base member through a locking mechanism.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanical interface connection on a swing hanger system to which either a car seat or baby carrier can be attached. This mechanical interface connection allows the caregiver to directly attach either a car seat, or an infant carrier to the hanger system to transfer a sleeping child from one support system to a swing system.
The majority of swing seats commercially available achieve back recline adjustment using a support wire retained by molded slots on the back of the seat and engagable with slotted stops. The support wire is most often pivotally connected to the hanger tubes. The seat in such systems is designed such that recline movement pivots around a hinged connection with the seat bottom. This form of recline mechanism has proven to be both cost effective and structurally sound; however, such recline mechanism requires the caregiver to use two hands while standing behind the swing when adjusting the seat back angle. One hand is needed to support the seat back while the other hand repositions the wire. Although effective, this type of recline mechanism is lacking in accommodating ergonomic and intuitive interaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,478, granted on May 5, 1998, to Michael Lumley, et al discloses a recline mechanism for a child safety seat in which the latch mechanism accessible from the front of the child safety seat operates a latch element that is engagable with a pair of laterally spaced racks having openings in the top surface thereof to receive the engaged latch elements. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,331, issued to Ichiro Onishi, et al on Feb. 27, 1996, a child safety seat can be reclined relative to a base member through arcuate tracks that are latched together by a spring-loaded latch pin. The automotive infant restraint seat in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,964, granted to Mark Sedlack, et al on Aug. 9, 1994, incorporates a post that is selectively engagable with catches to establish the reclined position of the seat member relative to a base member supporting the seat.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a recline mechanism for a swing system that could be actuated with a single hand. It would further be desirable to provide a recline mechanism that would be housed within the hanger system on which a removable seat member can be detachably mounted.
Many caregivers prefer the option of both a front to back and sideways swing motion because it allows them to customize the ride to their child's preference. Providing a swivel motion for a swing seat allows the caregiver to position the seat in longitudinal or transverse orientations to allow the swing to provide optional swing directions. One such swing is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,548, granted to Daniel Pinch, et al on Oct. 8, 1996, wherein the swivel component is located underneath the seat. The swivel component consists of a platform around which the seat can rotate about a vertical pivot axis. The placement of the swivel mechanism under the swing seat allows clearance above the child's head for placing the child in and out of the seat. In a pendulum form of a child's swing, the seat and base is suspended from a mechanism supported above the child's seat. This mechanism can incorporate a swivel connection so that the seat can be positioned for a front to back swing or re-oriented to provide a sideways swinging motion. Such a swing can provide the two desirable different swinging motions but this mechanism located above the child's seat may obstruct accessibility to the child in the swing seat, especially when taking the child in and out of the seat.
A very significant design consideration for an infant swing is the location of the center of gravity of a child, which may not necessarily pass through the geometric center of the seat. Accordingly, if a swing seat is rotated around a pivot axis located essentially at the center of gravity when changing the swing motion from a forward swinging position to a side to side swinging position, the seat geometry will not be centered in the swing frame when the swing is in the side to side swing position. Therefore, it would be highly advantageous if the seat could be both rotated from a forward to side to side position, and also be transversely moved in order to better center the swing seat within the swing frame when in the side to side position.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a swivel mechanism for a seat apparatus mounted on a base member that is operable to transversely shift the seat member with the child seated therein laterally when the seat is moved from the back-and-forth swing orientation to a sideways swing orientation.